When “Doing” Matters More Than “Done”
In the fervor around artificial intelligence, it's important that we remember that creativity and innovation is about far more than completing tasks.
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In the fervor around artificial intelligence, it's important that we remember that creativity and innovation is about far more than completing tasks.
Posted by Will Sansbury
My friend Rodger Otero reminds us that lasting and meaningful change is about cultivation, not revolution.
Posted by Will Sansbury
The need to be "right" can stop you from being effective.
Posted by Will Sansbury
First articulated by iconic industrial designer Dieter Rams in the 1980s, these principles are timeless and universal.
Posted by Will Sansbury
There is nothing noble about not caring.
Posted by Will Sansbury
You never change anything by fighting it; you change things by making them obsolete through superior technology. Telstar replaced five hundred tons of transoceanic cable. It used...
Posted by Will Sansbury
With change of any significance comes uncertainty. Uncertainty is never fun, but it doesn't have to be crippling.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Modern politics tells us to forget diversity and focus exclusively on inclusion, but fixating on inclusion without first addressing underrepresentation actually leads to less inclusive workplaces.
Posted by Will Sansbury
When we needed to demonstrate that our century-old company was still innovating, I quipped that we could just show people by building a product in real time at our customer conference like some technological zoo exhibit. Nobody seemed to realize I was joking.
Posted by Will Sansbury
In the chaos of early adulthood, a friend's wise word—protect your margins—became my secret to finding peace amidst the overwhelm.
Posted by Will Sansbury
In the pursuit of speed, many organizations stumble—not from a lack of effort, but from the pressure to rush.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Returning to my writing roots revealed a truth: the journey of creation starts with a single, imperfect step—daring to make a mark on the blank page.
Posted by Will Sansbury
After decades in tech, exhaustion and escapist fantasies set in—but despite the challenges, my career has always been about one thing: people. As diversity, equity and inclusion come under assault, I continue to fight for people.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Leaders, it’s time for some tough love: accountability, communication, and respect are not just expectations for others, but for you, too.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Effective hiring goes beyond filling positions; it's about building relationships and ensuring a positive experience for every candidate.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Charismatic laborers may save the day, but true leaders build a future. Sustainable progress thrives not on heroics, but on empowering teams and creating lasting systems.
Posted by Will Sansbury
A framework I created to explain how managers still have a huge role to play in coaching Agile teams' performance
Posted by Will Sansbury
Just as a successful garden requires preparation and the right conditions to thrive, true leadership is about cultivating an environment where innovation and growth can flourish.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Cascading communication is like a flawed game of telephone: everybody hears a message, but did they hear the right message?
Posted by Will Sansbury
Great leaders don’t just react to exceptions—they redesign systems to prevent them. Progress comes from refining workflows, not just playing whack-a-mole with disruptions.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Authentic leadership isn’t just about being genuine—it’s about being humane. Leaders must balance their authority with empathy, bridging the gap between their humanity and the power they hold.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Save those encouraging notes and emails in a 'For Bad Days' folder. When imposter syndrome hits, pull it out and let those kind words remind you that you are great at what you do.
Posted by Will Sansbury
How I've learned to protect time for deep thinking and doing
Posted by Will Sansbury
Many leaders view their job as creating thrust behind the organization (read: "sense of urgency"). I don't see it that way.
Posted by Will Sansbury
Every leader should prioritize the power of language in their interactions. Using phrases that convey vulnerability, openness, and empathy can transform a team's culture.
Posted by Will Sansbury
In the fervor around artificial intelligence, it's important that we remember that creativity and innovation is about far more than completing tasks.
I just saw an advertisement for a user research tool that mocked people for manually coding research insights when AI agents can do it automatically.
How tragic it is to not understand that often the value lies not in the task getting done but in the process of doing it. In the doing, we learn. We gain context and understanding, and it is from that context and understanding that disruptive insights emerge.
For decades, we’ve struggled with this unspoken, unquestioned belief that more work in the done column is inherently a good thing. I don’t think it is. A high Jira ticket completion rate tells me nothing except that you’ve moved a lot of bits and bytes through Atlassian’s servers.
The Agile manifesto addresses this confusion between output and outcomes directly in its tenth principle: “Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential.” Agile values mindfulness—understanding the present, with its context of what you learned yesterday, and prioritizing what is most valuable given everything you know and have learned. Inevitably, work we scope at the beginning of a project becomes less important, even unimportant, as we work. In the doing, we learn, and what matters changes.
If we fully offload the doing to AI, we get the satisfaction of a pile of completed tasks, but at what cost? AI can check the box on the to do list, but will it have the eureka moment as disparate threads suddenly weave into a rich tapestry? Will it tell you if it does?
Don’t get me wrong. AI is a powerful tool. Agents will be—and already the are being—revolutionary in so many fields and industries.
But for those of us who create value by solving problems, a little skepticism about AI is a good thing. If we leverage AI to do the work we need to do to learns we can end up painfully mediocre.
It’s in the doing, not the done, that we find creativity, innovation, and disruptive ideas.
One of my previous employers, Deluxe, is hosting its annual customer conference right now. The posts from old colleagues have made me smile as I remember one of the most...
Before I stumbled headlong into the world of software, I dreamed of being a writer. Recently, when I realized I needed a creative outlet to remind myself that my identity is...